Articles

A grid of wooden battens on the reverse of an old panel painting can look reassuringly solid and structurally sound. That was precisely the intention. Cradling was designed to counteract warping and stabilise damaged panels. Conservators now know, however, that under certain circumstances the same construction can itself contribute to cracking, deformation and mechanical stress.…

Dendrochronology is one of the most powerful techniques for dating historic wooden panels. But a tree ring dates the wood, not automatically the painting. Between the youngest measurable ring, the felling of the tree and the moment a painter put brush to panel lie several separate stages. And it is precisely there that art-historical interpretation…

In landscapes by Joachim Patinir, Pieter Bruegel and their successors, the world at the horizon often shifts towards a remarkable blue-green. This was not simply the result of a preference for a particular pigment. It was a way of painting distance, constructed through colour, tone, different pigments and, in some cases, centuries of material change.…

In Old Master auction catalogues, one regularly encounters wording such as: “We are grateful to X for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph.” Such a statement does not render the specialist’s opinion meaningless, but it does place limits on it. What exactly has the expert assessed, and what evidence remained beyond view?…

The reverse of a painting often reveals elements that remain hidden from view at the front: the canvas, tacking margins, wooden support, old nail holes, repairs and sometimes a secondary supporting canvas. Together, these features can provide important clues about the painting’s original construction and later interventions. Anyone who looks at a painting on canvas…

A painting that may once have looked bright can, after several decades, appear noticeably brown, yellow or dull. Varnish is often blamed. But what exactly is varnish, how can you recognise a discoloured layer, and can it be removed safely? That last question in particular is more complicated than the dramatic difference between before-and-after restoration…

A network of cracks, a whitish haze, a dent in the canvas or a few missing flakes of paint can reveal a great deal about the condition of a painting. To recognise damage, however, it is first necessary to understand how a painting is constructed, which changes are part of natural ageing, and which signs…

It has never been easier to find out what an Old Master painting previously fetched at auction. This has reduced the information advantage once enjoyed by the trade, but it has not made paintings any easier to value. With Old Masters in particular, a public auction result can become a stubborn price anchor, even when…

A painting can reveal far more than what is visible on its surface. Earlier compositions may lie concealed beneath the paint, a wooden panel may contain information about the age of the timber from which it was made, and pigments can provide indications of the earliest possible period in which a work could have been…

Whoever inherits an old painting, discovers one in the attic, or has had one hanging on the wall for decades will sooner or later ask the same question: what is it actually worth? The answer is often less straightforward than expected. Two paintings may be roughly the same age, of a similar size, and both…